Consultants hired to investigate monorail problems

Sito Negron

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

The Las Vegas Monorail Company took the first step toward getting back on track Tuesday when it hired a consulting team to review the problems that have kept the shuttle closed since a two-pound industrial washer hit the ground Sept. 8.

That event was the second accident in a week, following the fall of a 60-pound wheel from the rails dozens of feet above the ground. Those incidents came after delays in starting the $650 million system, which was to open in January but didn't take its first passenger until July 15.

Following the latest problem Sept. 8, the company managing the operation -- Transit Systems Management -- had harsh words for Bombardier, the contractor that built and runs the system. The system is owned by the non-profit Las Vegas Monorail Company.

In a news conference the next day, Transit Systems Management announced it was talking to independent experts to evaluate the system prior to seeking permission from Clark County to reopen.

Tuesday, the management company hired Exponent, which investigates, analyzes, and documents issues ranging from the technical to the financial.

"We have investigated most of the major disasters that you read about, such as the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, the walkway collapse at the Kansas City Hyatt, and the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City," the company's Web site notes.

"However, most of our work is actually helping clients with their day-to-day technical issues or challenges, and the average consultation we perform costs under $20,000," states the Exponent site.

Monorail spokesman Todd Walker said Tuesday he did not know the terms -- the cost, timing and scope -- of the contract with Exponent.

"The cost is not the primary concern of the Las Vegas Monorail Company. The cost is insignificant if we look at the overall safety and the customer perception of the safety of the monorail," Walker said. "Whether it's $10 or $10,000, we're going to spare no expense on ensuring this system, when it reopens, is the system we all anticipated."

He said the system could stay closed for "quite a bit of time" without hurting its bond ratings.

"We had bondholders here recently. We have adequate finances. We can go quite a bit of time before the system had to reopen without it really affecting the bottom line," Walker said.

He said it's too early to determine exactly what Exponent will do.

"The next thing would be identifying some of the things they'd be doing on our behalf, the scope, and a rough timeline," Walker said.

Walker said that the scope would be limited to the systems -- "the moving components as well as what makes those components move" -- as opposed to the "civil construction," the guideways and tracks.

County officials have said the monorail company is responsible for all repair costs, including the $75-an-hour the system is billed for each county engineer to inspect the repairs. To reopen, monorail officials must prove to the Clark County Building Division, which oversees the system's safety, that the problems have been adequately repaired. Transit System Management already had brought in the McLean, Va.-based consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton, to investigate the incident. Canada-based Bombardier has a $10 million annual contract to maintain the monorail and its existing four-mile route from the MGM Grand to the Sahara hotel.

Plans for an extension to downtown Las Vegas were put on indefinite hold after the closure. A $233 million contract awarded to Bombardier in October 2003 will expire at the end of this month, according to the monorail company.